West
Vale Branch |
The elements are conspiring against canal restoration at the moment. Firstly the Foot-and-Mouth Disease outbreak has necessitated the stopping of all work on towpaths and any area that requires crossing farmland. This means that all work in West Vale area, other than at the Canalside Park on Stainswick Lane, has ceased until further notice. Secondly, the continuing cold and wet weather has made work at the park extremely difficult with most weekends being too uncomfortable to carryout outside work by even our band of hardy volunteers. Additionally, this winter has seen just about all the active members of the Branch have gone down with the colds, flu or similar ailments.
Before the F&M outbreak, we moved our blue container to the Steppingstone Lane Bridge site in preparation to start clearing the bridleway diversion. Whilst realising that this was a bad time of year to be moving heavy containers on soft tracks, circumstances and vehicle availability necessitated us to try. After a very trying and frustrating day, when the mini-digger failed to restart after being put on the trailer and the tractor and container almost slipping into the canal, the aim was achieved if not in the proposed position. We must thank Mr Steve Benson for his understanding and generosity in allowing us to make use of a corner of his field as a temporary container home.
The problems with the mini-digger have proven to be greater than we would have wanted and “major surgery” has had to take place in the engine department. Happily the problems have been isolated and we hope to have the digger fit again for the April work party.
Our March work party was very limited and confined to the Canalside Park during which our small band of 5 volunteers braved wind and wet weather to install a new kissing-gate at the park end of the Cemetery Path. An easy sounding task but, with the mini-digger out of order, it meant a lot of back-breaking digging and manually shifting several wheelbarrow loads of scalpings from the carpark. Being gluttons for punishment, we also took time to tidy-up around our container. We re-stacked our stock of second-hand (third or fourth really ) wood and metal. We had intended to install a new height restriction device at the park entrance and start on re-locating the scalpings and hardcore, but the weather, shortage of volunteers and the unserviceable digger conspired against us. These tasks will still be waiting for us next work party.
For more information or to volunteer assistance please come along to one of our meetings held in the Shrivenham Bowls Club, Martens Road, on the second Wednesday of every month at 8 p.m. You will be made very welcome. Alternatively, ask any of the volunteers that you see working on the canal or park, they will be more than pleased to stop and talk!
Orph Mable - Branch Project Co-ordinator
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